China hit by deadly new strain of bird flu

Updated
April 05, 2013 14:32:00

A deadly new strain of bird flu has broken out in China. The strain, known as avian influenza A, or H7N9, has infected 14 people since Easter Sunday. Five have died. There's no evidence the virus is transmitted from human to human. But Chinese authorities are scrambling to find the source of the virus to stop it spreading further.

ELIZABETH JACKSON A new strain of bird flu has resulted in five deaths in China. Avian influenza A, or H7N9, has infected 14 people since Easter Sunday.

At this stage, there's no evidence the virus has been transmitted from human to human, but Chinese authorities are scrambling to find the source of the virus to stop it spreading further.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: So far, China is the only country affected, but the H7N9 virus has international authorities on alert. The new strain of bird flu has killed five people - four of them in Shanghai, the country's booming financial hub.

Professor Anne Kelso is the director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Centre for Influenza in Melbourne. She says it's not clear where the victims contracted the virus.

ANNE KELSO: Looking through the list of patients so far there have been some people who have known contact with poultry and also one or two with known contact with pigs, but it's difficult to know whether that's definitive because there would be many people in China who would have regular contact with poultry or pigs so it's a bit hard to say that that's a definitive link.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: It's the first time humans have been infected by this strain of bird flu. But Professor Kelso says there's no signs humans are passing it to other people.

ANNE KELSO: There was a suspected family cluster right at the beginning, the very first case in Shanghai was a man of 87 years of age who died and his two sons had been very ill and one of them had died, also of pneumonia but no H7N9 virus has been isolated from those two people and so it's suspicious in the sense that if you have three people in a family who get pneumonia, it's quite surprising if they don't have the same bug but in fact there's no direct proof of that at this stage.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Although the H7N9 virus is contained to China so far, nearby countries are already taking extra precautions to stop it spreading.

Vietnam has already banned poultry imports from China and Chinese passengers travelling to Japan are being asked report illness to authorities.

Other parts of China are on alert too. Hong Kong has suspended live bird imports from the mainland and is preparing to cull birds if necessary.

Professor Anne Kelso says there is a risk of a human pandemic with the new virus.

ANNE KELSO: Any new influenza virus that hasn't previously circulated in humans has that potential and so it is something we're always on the alert for. This one has a couple of warning signs. In particular it has some features that suggest that it has already undergone some adaptation to infect mammals and in that way, makes it a bit different from most other bird flu viruses.

So that does raise people's concerns but the critical missing information at the moment is whether it spreads easily amongst humans.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Global health officials are now considering whether to start mass-producing a vaccine for the H7N9 virus.

The United States Centers for Disease Control says it's monitoring the new strain of bird flu and co-ordinating with domestic and international partners.

Professor Kelso says the existing vaccines for H7 bird flu strains won't work on the new virus.

ANNE KELSO: There have been H7 vaccines made as prototype pandemic vaccines in the past. There are three that have been made but these are thought at the moment based on the particular properties of the new virus that they are unlikely to be effective.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The Chinese Health Ministry has promised to be open and transparent with international health authorities as it continues to investigate the new bird flu virus.